Auditor gives municipal court 'good' rating

The Missouri state auditor has given the Independence Municipal Court a clean bill of health, with a handful of suggested changes that have been implemented.

“They thought we were a really outstanding court, very well managed,” said Presiding Judge Garry L. Helm.

The office of State Auditor Thomas A. Schweich issued the audit report last week. In each audit, the office gives an overall rating of poor, fair, good or excellent – excellent ratings are rare – and gave the court a rating of good.

The auditor’s office turned up three issues:

• That municipal judges were not reviewing and documenting their approval of court dockets for traffic tickets. A judge is supposed to sign each sheet of tickets, a change that’s been put into effect, Helm said.

• That the court and the Independence Police Department need to work together to make sure the numerical sequence and final disposition of all traffic tickets and summonses are properly accounted for. That, too, has been resolved, Helm said.

• That security controls were needed so computers in the court office will lock up after 15 minutes of inactivity, helping prevent unauthorized access. That’s also been done, the court says.